Life

Stepping up to IRONMAN 70.3

Ten tips for the (mere mortal) beginner IRONMAN 70.3 athlete.

by Meredith Atwood

Making the jump from sprint or Olympic racing to the IRONMAN 70.3 distance might seem a tad crazy—especially for someone, like myself, who I like to call the "mere mortal" triathlete. Mere mortals are those athletes who perhaps don’t have a strong endurance background, came to sports late in life, or have other obstacles or inexperience that just make tri-ing a little more challenging.

Tackling an IRONMAN 70.3 is a massive endeavor, but even for the mere mortal, it is a thing of beauty—and possibility! Here are ten tips for successfully navigating newbie territory.

Believe that you can do hard(er) things

My favorite advice to first-time triathletes is: you can do hard things. Amping up the distance simply means that you can do harder things. I like to keep perspective on what is actually happening in an IRONMAN 70.3 distance race. You are simply going farther than you did in a sprint distance race. Taking on a long-distance triathlon is a matter of stacking the training for longer periods, and working through some of the challenges and mental monkeys that happen from attempting a big goal. However, there is no reason in the world that this is an impossible goal! Quite the contrary, I believe.

The simple act of reframing our thoughts works wonders in training for longer triathlons. Encourage yourself to look on the bright side of the training: I get to do this! How amazing that I have hours to spend on a bike! My body is a wonderful engine—sometimes it’s a caboose, but an engine nonetheless. I think I can I think I can!

Decide you will finish… no doubts

In my beginner-bible, Triathlon for the Every Woman, I emphasize the importance of making the decision to becoming a triathlete as you embark on the journey. This decision to tackle this race is a huge part of success. Likewise, deciding that you will finish the race—no matter what—prepares the mind for success, successful thoughts and reasons to push out those negative thoughts when they arrive.

If we spend our time envisioning and practicing success, we will be more likely to step into that decision and put our efforts behind it. If we are wishy-washy ("Gee whiz, I hope I will finish"), we aren’t giving our minds the training that it requires to be successful.

First you decided you would become a triathlete; now believe you will finish your IRONMAN 70.3.

Invest in the training—wholeheartedly

Whether you are working with a coach, a book, a tri club or off a free training plan, make sure that you trust the process and invest in it fully. If you have doubts about the methods, you are certainly free to questions those (and you should sometimes), but once you have a plan you trust, then throw yourself at it. Do the work. Don’t make excuses. Most importantly, this decision to take on an IRONMAN 70.3 was a decision you wanted—one that you believe is a big part of your life. Keep to the training plan as best as you can, work hard, and keep the promise to yourself.

When you pay money for a coach or a training plan, it is an investment. Sometimes putting down that money is a greater buy-in for the race than training with a free training plan. But neither are necessarily "better" than the other; having a coach or a team as a big variable for success depends on what type of personality you have. If you find yourself to be someone who requires support, then make that investment in a coach, team or paid plan—it will benefit you in the long-term.

Regardless of what type of plan you use, just make sure that you believe it it—and execute it to the best of your ability.

Let go of perfectionism

While the training plan is important, being kind to yourself on the journey is vital. Don’t allow yourself to use lame excuses or be a self-saboteur. At the same time, when you simply cannot get to a workout or make something happen, give yourself a break. One of the greatest workouts I ever had was the day I skipped my workout entirely and spent the day watching movies and reading with my kiddos. It was a workout for my soul, that renewed me mind, body and soul for the next training block.

It’s easy to want to nail our training plan perfectly, and beat ourselves up when we "fail." Remember that you can only do your best—sometimes life, work and sick family members gets in the way. Execution of a training plan is a beautiful thing, but sometimes, you just can’t. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. If you didn’t sleep well, it may not be a great day for speedwork. If you’re sick, maybe you just need rest. Be flexible, and let go of perfectionism. Do what you can with what you have.

Let go of speed

Don’t worry about how fast you are going. Yes, I know in a sport based on speed this seems ludicrous. True, you must accomplish the distances in the time allotted, but in all honesty—you have plenty of time to do it if you train long enough.

Truth: you can only go as fast as you can go for 70.3 miles. If you push too fast and too hard, you’ll fizzle out. So go as slow as you need to go to put in the distance. That is why the longer training is so important, and this takes time. Some people can tackle the training in 12 weeks and be fine—others may take a year or two to build up to this distance.

If you find that you are way too slow to finish after, say, 20 weeks of training, then merely put the race on the back burner—for a little while. There is no harm in waiting another training cycle to finish and finish strong. I trained about 10 months for my first IRONMAN 70.3, and had a 7 hour and 15 minute finish. I might not have finished at all if I had only trained for 6 months. By extending this training 16 weeks, I set myself up for success.

The key to training is consistency

I was as an unlikely of an endurance athlete that existed. I can attest to the fact that training for long-distance triathlon is a merely about putting in the time, energy and positivity required to reach it to race day. Simply put, the key to getting to that race day is consistency. What does this mean? Hitting your workouts, doing your training and showing up every day where you can and not allowing excuses to get in your way. Treating training like a non-negotiable part of your life (like a job or eating) really helps to ensure that consistency turns into part of the routine. Sure, make it fun… but also be like a robot and find the time needed to make it towards your goal.

Be comfortable before race day

Time in the water, in the saddle and on your feet is part of ensuring that race day is working in your favor. Being comfortable doing the longer workouts and stacking them together comes with preparation and consistency. If you work hard at execution of the training plan and giving yourself no excuses, then comfort on race day will come. You will have the workouts behind you to prove to yourself that you are capable of doing it.

When coaching athletes, I like to make sure that my athletes reach each of the distances in the swim, bike and run well in advance of race day. Just knowing that an athlete has run 13.1 miles, or ridden over 55 miles makes a huge difference in their confidence bank. Depending on the skill of the athlete, I really like longer race-rehearsal days as well: long swim, then a long bike and maybe a short run afterwards (followed by a long run that evening or the next morning), where the athlete covers the 70.3 miles in a day or over a weekend.

Stacking workouts is just a way to enforce that consistency and mental fortitude. Even if you aren’t at a place where you believe you could accomplish 70.3 miles in a single training day, I would encourage a swim-bike of race distances one day, and then a 10-13 miler the next day. Do that a few times, and then add on a run on the same day. Even a long swim, race day bike distance, and a 4-6 mile run will prove to be a HUGE boost. The more you are able to expose yourself to the distances, the better off you will be.

Stop comparing yourself to others

Comparing ourselves to faster athletes or even a "better" version of our past selves is detrimental to moving forward and making the best progress you can. Stay in the moment, work towards your big goals, and don’t waste time comparing your start to someone else’s finish.

Your race is your celebration day

Training is the hard work; race day is the time to celebrate it. A million things can go wrong on race day, but racing with a happy heart makes it more enjoyable! Try not to put unnecessary pressure on yourself—just go out there and do what you know how to do now: swim, bike and run!

If you have been consistent in your training and prepared the best you could, then know you have done the hard part, so go out and enjoy whatever happens on the day. Even if you didn’t have a stellar training cycle, you have a body that is capable and working hard—celebrate the amazing thing your body can attempt to do. That, in itself, is a miracle.

After, write a race report

Whether you are a writer or not, take 30 minutes to chronicle everything you remember from race day. Start with answering a few simple questions, following a timeline structure, and go from there. You’ll learn a lot about your race, yourself and that pesky internal dialogue that we are always working hard to improve. For example, start with these prompts: What was the weather like? Who came with you? How did you feel on race morning? What did race start and transitions feel like? How was the swim, the bike and the run in terms of: how you felt, nutrition, speed, pace, expectations and emotions? Don’t forget to note how you felt post-race as well; immediately and the days after is great intel on how prepared you were for the race, how nutrition went, or what could have been better. Most of all, have a great time recounting your effort and hard work.

Remember, even if it wasn’t the "perfect" race (they never really are, by the way), there is always something to learn and enjoy from each experience out there on a race course.

In no time, you’ll be an IRONMAN 70.3 finisher—and no one can take that incredible accomplishment away from you.